AlexMax
10-06-2002, 09:14 PM
Taking a hint from Belderan, I have rented a handful of Gamecube games myself and I feel like I need to review a few games myself. So here goes...
Super Smash Bros. : Melee
Having gotten experience from SSB for Nintendo 64, I can honestly say that this is a marked improvement over the 64 version. I especially liked the fact that no longer could you simply press R and throw people to oblivion as often, and that more emphesis was placed on smash attack for KO's it added a tad more depth to the game, and allowed people to actually be better at a game than newbies, while still being quite accessable. Though some of the new charactors are quite forgettable.
Resident Evil
I never did like the Resident Evil series. They required too much of a time commitment and the control was atrochious. However, this incarnation actually encouraged me to play it for quite a long time, getting lost in a maze of beautiful graphics. I guess this game is alright if Resident Evil is your thing. (And a side not, I actually liked the controller a little bit better than the PS controler for this game)
Super Monkey Ball
I have never ever rented a game twice since Super Mario Kart for the SNES. Until this game. This game simply blows me away in every possible meaning of the word. It is SO easy to get into, yet gets so frustratingly difficult near the end that I was about to throw my controller out the window and give someone a nasty headache. But I was compelled to play on. Why? What was it about this game that made it SO MUCH FUN? Well, whateevr it was, I spent coutless hours unlocking the mini-games. Oh, the mini-games. The party games. My friends and I spent countless hours playing 4 player monkey target because of this game. This is about the best multiplayer experience I have played in a while, ousted only by Goldeneye. I would have played the second one, but it was out. Figures. This is a must have title.
Nascar Thunder
I honestly didn't play this game. But my friend, who origionally didn't like the idea of a gamecube, didn't want to stop playing this game. He's a big fan of Nascar, so he knows his Nascar games. He liked it, so if thats your kind of game, play it.
Turok : Evolution
An unremarkable game by all means except graphics. Being a fan of the origional Turok, I was a tad disappointed that the control scheme didn't work out, and I couldn't control my charactor worth a shit. After messing with the controls, it changed to barely tolerable, but then the long loading times between levels put me off for good. Twin sticks played in this manner is possible, and is not a fault of the GC controllers design, however. If they had allowed the alternate control scheme to be reversed, a la Halo (Move and turn with upper left stick, strafe and look with lower right) I would have enjoyed this game a lot more. Oh, and the interface needs to be fixed, and I honestly think that they have learned nothing since Turok 1's botched itnerface.
Smugglers Run : Warzones
I havn't had this much fun since doing stunt quarries on Motorcross Madness 2. Except the cars are cooler you get countermeasurs, and several game modes that are just a blast, either single player or multiplayer. The idea of putting flares around checkpoints is a stroke of pure genius (though I realize they've been doing this since the PS2 version), and luckly you can see them from a million miles away and with an incredable 60 fps, even in 2 player mode (!) thanks to the incredable draw distance and the engine which is tweaked to perfection. And it really does feel like a nitty gritty game, especially in the later levels with police and rival gang members breathing down your neck. I higly recomend this game, the only fault I found with the game is that reverse is not handled the way I like it to be. (Reverse ought to be B and back, or just plain B while stationary, not Z)
So the score for the gamecube so far is 3-1-3 so far, which is honestly better than I ever expected. (Good games, bad games, games I was indifferent about). For 149 dollars, I think I got my moneys worth already. Now if only the blockbuster would stop being Gamecube Nazis' and start stocking more recent GC games...
Super Smash Bros. : Melee
Having gotten experience from SSB for Nintendo 64, I can honestly say that this is a marked improvement over the 64 version. I especially liked the fact that no longer could you simply press R and throw people to oblivion as often, and that more emphesis was placed on smash attack for KO's it added a tad more depth to the game, and allowed people to actually be better at a game than newbies, while still being quite accessable. Though some of the new charactors are quite forgettable.
Resident Evil
I never did like the Resident Evil series. They required too much of a time commitment and the control was atrochious. However, this incarnation actually encouraged me to play it for quite a long time, getting lost in a maze of beautiful graphics. I guess this game is alright if Resident Evil is your thing. (And a side not, I actually liked the controller a little bit better than the PS controler for this game)
Super Monkey Ball
I have never ever rented a game twice since Super Mario Kart for the SNES. Until this game. This game simply blows me away in every possible meaning of the word. It is SO easy to get into, yet gets so frustratingly difficult near the end that I was about to throw my controller out the window and give someone a nasty headache. But I was compelled to play on. Why? What was it about this game that made it SO MUCH FUN? Well, whateevr it was, I spent coutless hours unlocking the mini-games. Oh, the mini-games. The party games. My friends and I spent countless hours playing 4 player monkey target because of this game. This is about the best multiplayer experience I have played in a while, ousted only by Goldeneye. I would have played the second one, but it was out. Figures. This is a must have title.
Nascar Thunder
I honestly didn't play this game. But my friend, who origionally didn't like the idea of a gamecube, didn't want to stop playing this game. He's a big fan of Nascar, so he knows his Nascar games. He liked it, so if thats your kind of game, play it.
Turok : Evolution
An unremarkable game by all means except graphics. Being a fan of the origional Turok, I was a tad disappointed that the control scheme didn't work out, and I couldn't control my charactor worth a shit. After messing with the controls, it changed to barely tolerable, but then the long loading times between levels put me off for good. Twin sticks played in this manner is possible, and is not a fault of the GC controllers design, however. If they had allowed the alternate control scheme to be reversed, a la Halo (Move and turn with upper left stick, strafe and look with lower right) I would have enjoyed this game a lot more. Oh, and the interface needs to be fixed, and I honestly think that they have learned nothing since Turok 1's botched itnerface.
Smugglers Run : Warzones
I havn't had this much fun since doing stunt quarries on Motorcross Madness 2. Except the cars are cooler you get countermeasurs, and several game modes that are just a blast, either single player or multiplayer. The idea of putting flares around checkpoints is a stroke of pure genius (though I realize they've been doing this since the PS2 version), and luckly you can see them from a million miles away and with an incredable 60 fps, even in 2 player mode (!) thanks to the incredable draw distance and the engine which is tweaked to perfection. And it really does feel like a nitty gritty game, especially in the later levels with police and rival gang members breathing down your neck. I higly recomend this game, the only fault I found with the game is that reverse is not handled the way I like it to be. (Reverse ought to be B and back, or just plain B while stationary, not Z)
So the score for the gamecube so far is 3-1-3 so far, which is honestly better than I ever expected. (Good games, bad games, games I was indifferent about). For 149 dollars, I think I got my moneys worth already. Now if only the blockbuster would stop being Gamecube Nazis' and start stocking more recent GC games...